Retracing Dahmer: understanding Jeffrey Dahmer’s life at Ohio State

Jessica Langer
Thu, 27 Oct 2022 01:38:38 +0000
Campus, Instagram Page, News, Buckeyes, Chris Booker, Drake Performance Center, jeffrey dahmer, John Backderf, Lionel Dahmer, Luigi's Pawn Shop, Milwaukee Cannibal, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, morrill tower, My friend Dahmer, Office of the University Registrar, ohio state, Papa Joe's Pizza House, plasma, Ross House, serial killer, sexual obsessions, Stephen Hicks, surf city, The Lantern, The Oar House, The Travel Agency

Jeffery Dahmer attended Ohio State for the fall quarter of 1978. Via TNS

When people think of Jeffrey Dahmer, they think of his murders. Yet, this infamous serial killer has a story — part of it includes his time at Ohio State drinking alone and scrounging up money by donating plasma.

With the highly-acclaimed Netflix series, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” amassing over 700 million hours, The Lantern dug deep into Dahmer’s past, retracing his life at Ohio State and learning more about the “Milwaukee Cannibal.”?

The former Ohio State student and army veteran from Akron, Ohio, confessed to killing and dismembering 17 people — 11 of whom were men and boys whose remains were found in Dahmer’s Milwaukee apartment July 22, 1991 — in Ohio and Wisconsin.?

Dahmer came to the university soon after his first murder of Stephen Hicks — a 19-year-old hitchhiker he found while driving and brought back to his childhood home in 1978 — according to FBI records.?

At 18 years old, Dahmer already excessively drank, Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey Dahmer’s father said in his memoir “A Father’s Story.” Lionel Dahmer said he was unsure of what was going on inside his son’s head when he was inebriated, but it was only years later that he figured out what his son was thinking about.?

“He was listening to a murder he had already committed several months before,” Lionel Dahmer said. “In terror and awesome dread, he was watching it again and again, a horror show that ran ceaselessly behind his moving eyes.”?

Lionel Dahmer said his son was not excited to attend college, packing only a snakeskin he got from Boy Scouts and two pictures of his dog.?

According to the Office of the University Registrar, Jeffrey Dahmer came to Ohio State undecided in the fall of 1978.?

Jeffrey Dahmer’s first, and only, quarter at the university began at 8 a.m. Sept. 20, 1978, according to the 1978-79 Ohio State Bulletin. Jeffrey Dahmer was one of over 43,000 students enrolled at Ohio State that year, according to a university enrollment report.

University spokesperson Chris Booker said in an email for the incoming class of 1978, the first-year retention rate was 75.7.?

Jeffrey Dahmer lived in room 541 in Morrill Tower, according to a 1991 Lantern article. John “Derf” Backderf, a 1983 alumnus in journalism and author of “My Friend Dahmer,” said in a statement there were 16 students in the pod, and male floors of the tower were referred to as “Ross House.” The room is still used today.?

“Dahmer was a complete mess by this point,” Backderf said. “The memory of what he had done to Stephen Hicks both tortured him, and titillated him. His ghastly sexual obsessions were taking him over, body and soul, and driving him insane.”?

To deal with those obsessions, Backderf said Jeffrey Dahmer relied on alcohol.?

Backderf said Jeffrey Dahmer rarely went to class, waking up late and stumbling into Drake Union — a second student union that opened in 1972 and is now known as the Drake Performance Center — to eat alone. At night, Jeffrey Dahmer would walk to the South Campus Bar District, Backderf said.?

Papa Joe’s Pizza House, The Travel Agency, Surf City and The Oar House were popular, Backderf said. The bars were located on High Street between East 11th and Ninth avenues but none of them are still open.?

The minimum drinking age in Ohio in 1978 was 18 for low-alcohol-content beer of 3.2 percent. However, Backderf said it wasn’t hard to get higher beer content or mixed drinks with a fake ID or an indifferent bartender.?

Backderf said Jeffrey Dahmer sat at a bar and drank alone every day until he ran out of money. Once finishing the weekly allowance from his father, Jeffrey Dahmer donated plasma. At the time, students could earn $8 for the first donation and $10 for the second, according to a February 1978 Lantern article. The $10 payment would be equivalent to $47 in 2022, according to the Bureau Labor of Statistics inflation calculator.?

Jeffrey Dahmer could have donated to many locations in Columbus at the time, and Backderf said locations allegedly banned Jeffrey Dahmer from donating.

“There was apparently a note taped about the front desk, saying ‘Do not let Jeff Dahmer donate plasma,’” Backderf said.

Lionel Dahmer said he allowed himself to think Jeffrey Dahmer’s time at Ohio State was a “period of renewed hope,” and he later learned his son wasn’t the best roommate.?

Jeffrey Dahmer was accused of but denied stealing a watch, $100 in cash and a radio from his roommates, according to a 1991 Lantern article. Backderf said the pawn shop where Dahmer likely sold his stolen goods was around Fifth Avenue and High Street.

“Can you imagine it?” Backderf said. “Talk about your nightmare roommate!”

Luigi’s Pawn Shop, located at 1245 N. High St., was confirmed to be open in 1978, but no connection to Jeffrey Dahmer could be verified.?

According to the Office of the University Registrar, Jeffrey Dahmer attended the university until Dec. 8, 1978. Lionel Dahmer said his son’s cumulative GPA was 0.45, the equivalent of two hours of college credit.?

Jeffrey Dahmer failed Introduction to Anthropology, did not complete Greco-Roman History, had a “mediocre” performance in administrative science and dropped other courses after only a few weeks, Lionel Dahmer said. His highest grade had been a B- in Riflery.

Lionel Dahmer said his son justified his grades by saying he found it difficult to get up for morning classes. Other classes had “slipped beyond his control somehow,” he said.?

Paul Sciulli, an emeritus professor in the Department of Anthropology who was believed to have taught Jeffrey Dahmer’s Introduction to Anthropology course, said in an email the department “only” keeps rosters for 25 years, and in 1978, there were about 600 students, so “I don’t remember him (if he was in the course).”

The university declined to comment.?

The Lantern was unable to reach the other professors who could have taught Jeffrey Dahmer by the time of publication.

There are no records to indicate if Jeffrey Dahmer committed any murders during his time at Ohio State.